One of the greatest rewards in serving as a professional fishing guide is sharing memorable moments on the water with clients and friends, year after year.   This was the case yesterday as I enjoyed another day on the water with the Roberts clan from Azalea Park in Orlando Florida.  Over the years I’ve enjoyed and shared many memorable experiences catching trophy redfish with the Roberts family in one form or another, and was excited to hear it was Lexee’s turn to catch a trophy redfish.  I remember the day I first fished with Kent, his son Raymond (Stingray) and daughter Lexee on the Indian River Lagoon some 14 years ago, and Lexee caught her first redfish weighting in at a whopping 1.5 pounds.  It was a very under slot redfish, but it was the biggest one of that size we caught all day.

Today little Lexee has grown into a gorgeous young lady who loves to fish.  For her graduation from High School her father Kent booked a charter with me with the stipulation that I put her on her trophy redfish.  Now the pressure was on.

As the day approached I began to grow concerned about my ability to succeed in this quest faced with steady state east winds at 15 to 20 knots combined with a 70 year full moon on the summer solstice. The challenge was certainly on.

As I launch my skiff at 5am I have to admit there was some concern in my mind, but I should have remembered I was fishing with the Roberts clan, a true catching machine with lady luck on our side in the form of a young lady named Lexee. As we staked out in our spot waves began to break over the stern, but soon the fish started pulling wet feet became reality because the bite was on and our drags were screaming.  Lexee was the first up landing a very respectable black drum, and by sunrise all three anglers had scored fish in the 30-pound range.  Before it was all said and done four black drum and Lexee’s trophy redfish had all reached the deck of Three Quarter Time II and Stingray lost another huge redfish boat side when the hook broke in half on the final run.   I’m not sure if it was the extreme full moon, the longest day of the year, the rough windy and overcast weather, Lexee’s lady luck or a combination of all of the above, but all I can say is the fish were chewing and the Roberts were pulling.

In the fish guiding business you always have good and bad days, but every now and then you are blessed with a very special day of catching, and this was undoubtedly one of those days.  Thank you Kent, Lexie and Raymond for the great day on the water, and I’m looking forward to our next adventure together.

As always, if you need information or have any questions, please contact me.

Good luck and good fishing,

Captain Tom Van Horn